How Did Benito Mussolini Come To Power

Following World War I, Italy was essentially a country defeated. Despite having been on the winning side the feeling was that Italy had lost. Far from being treated like a major power, Italy felt marginalized by the “Big Three” countries, The US, France, and Great Britain, at the Paris peace talks and the Treaty of Versailles did not give Italy the territory it had been promised and felt it deserved. To add to this, Italy was a country embroiled in social turmoil, people were unhappy with the post-war economic decline, industrial strikes with worker occupation of buildings were common, peasants seized land from large estates, and the government seemed unable to handle the issues. Although the Italian parliamentary system consisted of two parties, the Socialist Party and a new Catholic Popular Part, which pandered to the needs of the common people, both parties refused to work with and
With the supposed threat of communist governmental take overs looming in the background the people found themselves scared for their future. In other words, the country was primed for change. Enter Benito Mussolini.

Benito Mussolini, the son of a common working family, wore many hats during his lifetime. School teacher, socialist, magazine editor, and wounded war veteran. Consequently, Mussolini was able to play the role of “common man,” but was shrewd enough to manipulate his story and other people to get what he wanted. What Mussolini wanted was an ultra-nationalistic party controlled by one group, his, with him as the leader. The Italian Fasci di Combattimento (“Band of Combat”) or Fascist organization was founded in 1919 in Milan. The Fascist were a political organization made up of members,